Electric coffee grinders which dispense the coffee powder in portions are commonly known and are predominantly used in coffee machines in the catering trade, but increasingly also in offices and in the home. Devices of this type are relatively voluminous and/or generate noise caused by the deflection of the flow of beans and/or powder by the control elements necessary for this purpose.
DE-A-24 18 473 discloses a domestic grinder wherein the axis of the grinding mechanism forms an acute angle with the vertical so that the majority of the material to be ground passes directly between the grinding wheels where it is ground, and is ejected by the acting centrifugal forces. Assisted by gravity, the coffee powder flows into a positively connected receiving container.
The degree of grinding, i.e. the distance between the grinding wheels, is adjusted by an adjusting device arranged above the electric motor outside the bearing points. Despite the oblique position of the motor, this produces a relatively great overall height, and thus the grinder is not suitable for installation in compactly constructed coffee machines.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a device which has greater operational reliability and does not have the disadvantages of the prior art, and which has optimum material flow and does not generate noise when measuring out and/or ejecting the powder.
It is also an object of the invention to keep the overall height of the device low and to construct the device in such a manner that it can be associated with an existing brewing assembly in a coffee machine in a space-saving manner.